April 20, 2016

The Dekor Plus Diaper Pail {Product Review}

Through several previous posts, you may remember me mentioning our journey through potty training along with our motivational, yet low pressure approach. While we get our little one geared up for his potty adventures we still put those good ol' diapers to use.

Have you ever heard of the saying, "If a poop diaper doesn't smell, did the poop really occur?" Okay, well me either, because I just made that one up. It might sound a little corny, but hear me out. Pee diapers are never an issue. You just toss them in the trash anywhere in the house and that is that, but those #2's...yikes! If you've ever come across one, then I probably don't need to do too much explaining there. That is why I rely heavily on a diaper pail, so we can hide those not-so-pleasant odors. Hey, we are all human and we all go, but smelling it is something we can try to avoid.

Since my son was born, we have been using a very well-known brand diaper pail (I won't mention it by name here, but if you are curious shoot me an email and I'll give you the scoop). The problem with this diaper pail was that it never really worked very well at masking the stinky odors from those #2 diapers. Of course, it worked better than throwing them in the kitchen trash, but not enough where our house wouldn't still have a slight "essence of poo" aroma. We finally decided to relocate the diaper pail to the garage. Now there's no diaper odors wafting throughout our home, but I have to say it is a bit inconvenient running downstairs to the garage each time we have to toss a #2 diaper.

When I was approached with an opportunity to try the Dekor Plus, I was excited to give it a go. With the epic failure of our current diaper pail, I knew we had nothing to lose. The Dekor Plus has a foot pedal, making it hands free. It can hold up to 60 newborn diapers, so that means less changing of the refills and more money in your pocket.

The science behind "odor control" in this particular pail is that it uses a three part system. It begins with a sealed, Magik™ trap door, which allows easy assess to dispose of a diaper, while springing the door closed afterwards. This trap door is in addition to the Dekor's lid which offers double protection. Of course the refills play a part, because they include a fragrant powder scent.

So how did the Dekor Plus pan out in the odor control department? After a full month of daily use, I am sad to say that I didn't notice a huge difference between the Dekor Plus and my previous diaper pail when it came to locking in dirty diaper odors. In fact, after a week of use in the house, we allowed the Dekor Plus to migrate into the garage to keep the other pail company. I was a bit bummed out by this, since I've been looking for a more convenient way to dispose of #2 diapers without making a trip to the garage each and every time.

All is not lost, though. I did find some pluses that would make me actually consider choosing the Dekor Plus over our previous diaper pail:

1) There is an actual lock on this pail to prevent little ones from opening it up. I found this feature to be pretty neat, since our previous one didn't include that.

2) The refill bags are environmentally friendly. Not only are they made with 20% recycled materials, but they're completely biodegradable. My old diaper pail doesn't really make a mention about this in their refills, and that's a lot of plastic being used. I'd rather pay for the one that leaves a smaller ecological footprint.

3) Don't use disposable diapers? Perhaps you use cloth diapers...no problem! The Dekor Plus actually offers a cloth diaper bag that's waterproof, reusable, and machine washable. Each package contains two, so you can have one set up in the pail, while the other is being washed.

4) After giving the pail a good look over, I thought of a way to actually use regular trash bags instead of the refills. I can't seem to figure out an easy way to make this happen with my previous diaper pail. Using refills is fine, but the Dekor Plus seems to be the more thrifty option if you are looking to save on the cost of them.

5) They come in all sorts of great colors that allow you to coordinate with the decor in your home. I chose the white, since it matches in whatever room we put it in, but the pail also comes in soft pink, sage, gray, black, and soft blue. Plus the overall design is more contemporary, so it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

6) Piggy backing off of #4–longevity. Since you can modify the Dekor Plus with a trash bag, it can be used as regular can way after the diaper phase has passed. This is a great way to repurpose a baby product that you would typically no longer have use for. As also mentioned in #5, they have an appealing design that you won't mind seeing in any room.

When it comes to choosing between the Dekor Plus and my previous diaper pail, I would have to choose the Dekor Plus. As it stands, I've yet to come across a pail that is truly odor proof, and both pails, are definitely tied up in this category. Having said that, I feel that the Dekor Plus is the better choice in diapers pails, both economically and for practical reasons.

If you have any questions about making your next diaper pail purchase, please feel free to send me an email. I am always happy to offer help in any way that I can.